Interview with Erwin de Winter. Manager ICT & Information at HandicapNL
HandicapNL wants the more than two million people in the Netherlands who have disabilities to have meaningful day-to-day lives. Under the guidance of Erwin de Winter, ICT & Information Manager, HandicapNL chose Salesforce in 2016 to make even more of an impact. Implementation partner Bluedesk CRM and Documizers worked together to help HandicapNL make their processes more efficient and gain more control over their data.
For HandicapNL, the time was ripe in January 2016 for a new CRM. Erwin tells us why: ‘We were using three different systems. They were outdated, and we were looking for a single solution that could do on its own what they’d been able to do together.’ Erwin and his colleagues also wanted to make better use of the data they had: ‘We often depended on consultants for data, and it was difficult to make reports ourselves. We didn’t feel like we owned the data.’
Working smarter with Salesforce
HandicapNL had quite a few CRM systems on its radar, including those outside the charity sector. Erwin eventually selected seven parties, including Salesforce, which then went on to win. ‘Salesforce makes data easily accessible, and had already proven itself for other charities. It was also really important to us that the new CRM should be a cloud solution. Moreover, the ecosystem is quite comprehensive, with numerous organisations and applications that help you improve your business processes.’
Bluedesk CRM & Documizers
Implementation partner Bluedesk CRM set up Salesforce for such activities as donor management, project requests and [Buddies], HandicapNL’s project for matching volunteers with people who have disabilities. Erwin explains: ‘We now have more insights into all of our projects. Why are we doing this, who are we doing it for, and how are we doing it? Knowing the answers to these questions means our impact and our visibility are growing.’ It quickly became apparent that HandicapNL could also benefit from more-efficient document management, so Bluedesk CRM turned to its partner Documizers for help in 2019.
Easier document flows
Erwin explains: ‘We used to work with two other document management applications, but the performance was never quite up to scratch. It was also difficult to create other templates, so a consultant always had to do that for us. With Documizers, we can do it all ourselves.’
DocuFlow, the online solution, automates all document and email processes for HandicapNL. Erwin explains: ‘We can now format our letters and emails, including our thank-you letter to donors, within Salesforce, and send them straight from the system. All the information for the right person is entered straight away, so we no longer need to edit the letter first in Word and then upload it. This avoids the risk of errors that that used to entail. DocuFlow saves us a lot of time and a lot of hassle.’
‘We can now format our letters and emails, including our thank-you letter to donors, within Salesforce, and send them straight from the system.’
Saving with digital signing
HandicapNL saves a lot of time with standard letters via Documizers: ‘All the information in the documents is linked up to our records in Salesforce. Printing or emailing is now done at the push of a button.’ HandicapNL also deliberately chose Documizers for the ‘digital signing’ service.
‘We use that for our volunteer contracts, among other things. No more letters back and forth, no more waiting around for a signature. By my reckoning, that alone saves us at least 15 minutes per contract and we have about 2,500 of those a year.’ What Erwin wants to see next is also to have all personal contracts processed digitally.
Flexible cooperation
Erwin appreciates the cooperation with Bluedesk CRM and Documizers: ‘Bluedesk CRM had everything well under control, and with Service Studio it can quickly offer help with small configurations. They also make sure that the solutions I discuss with Documizers work. I like the fact that Documizers is a Dutch business, because language and time differences can make communication difficult. I can just call and have someone come by. I also think digital signing is a plus: other companies didn’t have that.’
Erwin has the following tip: ‘Find out whether a solution already offers, out of the box, what you’re expecting. I think you shouldn’t want to change too much: the basics should already be there.’
‘By my reckoning, with our volunteer contracts alone, we save at least 15 minutes per contract, and we have about 2,500 of those each year.’
About HandicapNL
Over two million people in the Netherlands live with a disability. HandicapNL wants everyone who has a disability to have a normal, meaningful day-to-day life. Based in Odijk, it works with national, regional and local initiatives in such areas as rehabilitation training, friendship (‘buddy’) projects, and support for informal caregivers. HandicapNL employs some 35 staff and has over 150,000 contacts, including donors and volunteers.
Everything You Need to Know About DocuFlow
Download the brochure. It provides a detailed explanation of all DocuFlow functionalities.
More information at handicap.nl
Documizers versimpelt documentprocessen met DocuFlow.
DocuFlow also offers benefits such as:
- Professionalization of communication workflows;
- Standardization and a consistent way of working;
- Prevention of (human) errors;
- Insight into document workflows;
- Centralized management of templates, processes, and documents.
